Folding crate.



G. P. MIESEN. FOLDING CRATE. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 14, 1910.

:FI E=l Patented Feb. 20, 1912.

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CLARENCE F. MIESEN, OF CARROLLTON, KENTUCKY.

FOLDING CRATE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 20, 1912.

Application filed September 14, 1910. Serial No. 582,056.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CLARENCE F. MIESEN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Carrollton, in the county of Carroll, State of Kentucky,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Folding Crates; andI do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains' to make and use the same.

This invention relates to folding crates.

The object of the invention resides in the provision of a crate whichmay be folded and unfolded with ease and despatch, and which at the sametime will be simple in construction, durable in use and comparativelyinexpensive to manufacture.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in thedetails of construction and in the arrangement and combination of partsto be hereinafter more fully set forth and particularly pointed out inthe claim.

In describing the invention in detail, ref erence will be had to theaccompanying drawings, wherein like characters of refer ence denotecorresponding parts in the several views; and in which,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a crate constructed in accordance withthe invention with the end of one longitudinal side broken away; Fig. 2,a plan view of the crate; Fig. 3, a plan view of the crate in a foldedstate; Fig. 4, a detail perspective view of one of the terminal metallicconnecting members; and Fig. 5, a detail perspective view of one of theintermediate metallic connecting members.

Referring now to the drawing, the crate is shown as comprisinglongitudinal sides A and transverse sides B. The longitudinal sides Aare composed of spaced slats 10 which are of a length less than theactual length of the crate, the slats of respective sides A terminatingshort of diagonally opposite corners of the crate. The transverse sidesB are formed of slats 11 disposed in spaced relation to each other andhaving their length equal to the width of the crate. The slats 10 arepivotally connected to the slats 11 at diagonally opposite corners ofthe crate by means of rods 12 and 13. Pivoted between the slats 11 atdiagonally opposite corners of the crate by means of rods 14 and 15 areterminal metallic connecting members 16, each of which is provided withspaced ears 17 and 18 and between which ears are pivoted the terminallongitudinal slats 10. Mounted upon the rods 1A and 15 are intermediatemetallic connecting members 19 which are also provided with spaced ears20 and 21, between which are pivoted the intermediate slats 10. Themembers 19 are each provided at one end with an integral lateralextension 22 which is rigidly secured in the spaces between thetransverse slats 11 by means of rods 23 and 24 which pass through theouter ends of the lateral extensions 22 of the intermediate metallicconnecting members. By rigidly securing the extensions 22 between theslats 11 it will be apparent that when the crate is folded, the mainportion of the metallic connecting members 19 will serve to hold theslats in spaced relation to each other and thus permit the storage ofcross braces and partitions therebetween.

l/Vhat is claimed is A folding crate including sides, each comprising aplurality of spaced slats, the slats extending longitudinally of thecrate being shorter than the length of the latter, while those extendingtransversely of the crate are equal in length to the width of the crate,the slats extending longitudinally of the crate being pivoted to theends of the slats extending transversely thereof at diagonally oppositepoints, and a plurality of metallic plates having spaced ears on oneend, between which are pivoted the ends of the longitudinal slat-s, theoutermost of said plates having their remaining ends pivoted in thespaces between the free ends of the transverse slats, while theintermediate plates have their remaining ends provided with rigidright-angular extensions respectively disposed in the spaces between thetransverse slats and rigidly secured to the latter.

In testimony whereof, I afiix my signature, in presence of twowitnesses.

CLARENCE F. MIESEN. Witnesses:

J on STORY, J OHN H. GROBMEIER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

